Warn­ing over un­reg­u­lated agents

York let­ting agency, Letters of Dis­tinc­tion, is warn­ing of the pit­falls of us­ing un­reg­u­lated agents as the num­ber of com­plaints made against let­ting agents has soared by 45 per cent dur­ing the past year, ac­cord­ing to the Prop­erty Om­buds­man.

Di­rec­tor Scott Lit­tle­fair be­lieves many prospec­tive ten­ants don’t un­der­stand the risk they are tak­ing by us­ing an un­li­censed agent. He says: “A huge num­ber of let­ting agents have sprung up over the last few years to cash in on the pri­vate rentals sec­tor. How­ever, it is our view that we are one of only four agents in York who are fully li­censed and able to op­er­ate un­der the strin­gent ARLA rules and Code of Prac­tice that of­fers pro­tec­tion to ten­ants.”